McNair defeats University Charter to advance in Hudson County Tournament

Mark Stoll and his McNair teammates are an unselfish group on the court. And while that trait is usually a desirable one, at times, it has been a weakness for a group short on size and experience.

“I feel like that’s the thing with our team. A lot of times we overthink and we want to pass first and not shoot,” said Stoll. “Today, we did a little bit better job of that.”

By foregoing selflessness in the name of open shots, the Cougars delivered its strongest offensive performance of the season.

Stoll scored 15 points and fellow senior Jude Ulokameje had 16 to go with 13 rebounds as both were featured prominently in a key first half surge that powered 16th-seeded McNair to a 66-55 victory over 17th-seeded University Charter on Saturday in the Play-In Round of the Hudson County Tournament at Academic in Jersey City.

Freshmen CJ De Guzman and Julian Caldejon as well as sophomore David Ruitz added eight points apiece for the Cougars (3-18), who shattered their season best scoring output by 18 points. Stoll had 10 rebounds with eight steals and Ruiz pulled down 10 rebounds for McNair, who will now play ninth-seeded Hoboken in the preliminary round on Tuesday.

“Our biggest thing is we’ll go possessions where we don’t get an offensive shot,” said McNair head coach Dave Masciale. “If we don’t shoot the ball, we can’t score.”

The emphasis on not passing up shots proved vital especially when McNair missed its first five three-point attempts. Undeterred, Caldejon snapped the cold streak with a corner trey 3:33 into the game. Two minutes later Augustine Lazaro’s 3-pointer snapped a 9-9 deadlock and put his team in front for good.

A 3-pointer from Stoll before the first quarter buzzer ignited a 14-4 McNair run, which featured a pair of long-range daggers by the senior as well as three consecutive layups from the 6-foot-3 Ulokameje.

“Once they came out of those first four minutes we were really dialed in and followed the game plan, and we were putting the ball in the basket when we weren’t before,” Masciale said. “Once we got over those initial possessions and we hit a couple shots, I knew right away that it would open up a little bit for Jude. We knew it would open things up once we stretched it out on offense.”

“It got the team going. It got me and it got the team hyped,” Ulokameje said.”It motivated me to keep scoring and putting the ball in the basket.”

McNair, which has now defeated University Charter (0-18) three times this season led by as many as 21 in the second half.

The Generals were paced by Jemere Shaw, who scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. Mark Ibrahim had 17 points with 20 rebounds and Julio Abreu added six points and 14 rebounds.

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